Carton feeder



L. M. MARTZ CARTON FEEDER July 7, 1910 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5,1968 LLOYD 0. MARTZ L."M. MARTZ CARTON FEEDER July 7, 1970 v 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1968 INVENTOR United States Patent3,518,802 CARTON FEEDER Lloyd M. Martz, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor toGulf Oil Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaFiled July 5, 1968, Ser. No. 742,852 Int. Cl. B65b 43/39 US. Cl. 53-3 11Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention comprises means to feedcartons comprising a roller conveyor, a tapered plough to initially openthe flaps, a star wheel having flexible tips adapted to repeatedlystrike the trailing surface of a carton to resiliently urge it forward,and a pair of eccentrically mounted rotating cams positioned above thecarton but sufliciently close to its sides to break the hinge connectionbetween the flaps and the carton while simultaneously urging it forward.

This invention relates to the field of material handling, and moreparticularly is directed to the art of moving empty cartons in packagingplants wherein said cartons are filled with goods.

Generally, when liquid goods, such as motor oils, are packed in cans theempty cans are shipped to the refinery by the can supplier packed incorregated cardboard cartons. The cartons are already printed with theoil companys trademark, and the like material. The procedure at therefinery is to first remove the cans from the cartons, direct the cansto can filling machines and to subsequent processes which mark, seal,and otherwise complete the packaging of the petroleum products in thecans. Simultaneously, the cartons are sent from the point of separationof the cans out of the cartons down a parallel line to a point at whichthe filled cans are put back in the carton, after which the cartons aresealed, marked with control members, and the like, and stored or shippedto the consumer.

The invention will be described with regard to a prob lem in handling aparticular can and carton combination, but it will be understood thatthe invention is not limited to this particular combination. Motor oilpacked in the familiar two-gallon, relatively tall, generallyrectangular can is shipped out of the refinery three such cans to acarton, and the cans are sent to the refinery by the can supplier,packed three such empty cans to the carton. For reference purposes, letit be assumed that the depth of a can is its smallest dimension, theheight is its largest dimension, and the width is an intermediatedimension. The cans are arranged in each carton in an upright position.Each carton has a height substantially equal to the height of a can, awidth substantially equal to the width of a can, and a depthsubstantially equal to treble the depth of a can. The problem thatarises is that such a carton has relatively long (treble the depth of acan) but relatively narrow (about half the Width of a can) side flaps.The automated machinery which puts the filled cans back in the cartonsrequires that these side flaps be folded down outwardly out of the wayto allow access for cans into the cartons. Because the side flaps arenarrow, the conventional equipment which opens the flap and then bendsthem down to break the folds between the flaps and the sides of thecarton, must be so close to the carton that the carton cannot be fedproperly or else is crushed in the process of simultaneously being fedand having its flaps bent down. As is well known, the folds or hingeportions between the flaps and the cartons side walls must be broken,have a more or less per- 3,518,802 Patented July 7, 1970 ice manent setimparted to them, so that they will stay out of the way during thecartons passage through the subsequent machinery. Other conventionalmeans are provided to positively move the folds back up from the downposition and then dOWn again on top of the cans to close the carton.

While the invention will be described with regard to the above mentionedproblem in cartons having a relatively long length dimension in relationto their width dimension, the invention is not limited thereto, since itcan, with only minor modifications, be adapted to operrate with cartonshaving other proportions, for example; relatively cubical cartons, orthose having a relatively square horizontal cross-section, and the like.

The above and other advantages of the invention will be pointed out orwill become evident in the following detailed description and claims,and in the accompanying drawing also forming a part of the disclosure,in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a packaging operationembodying the carton feeder of the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspectiveview, approximately to scale, of ne carton of the problem type withwhich the invention has been used; FIG. 3 is a top plan view of thecarton feeder of the invention; and FIG. 4 is a side elevational viewthereof.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the showing of FIG. 1 is adiagrammatic representation of a packaging plant in which the cartonfeeder of the invention has been and is being successfully used. 10designates the main floor of the packaging plant, and 12 desingates asmaller area on the floor above the main floor. An operator is stationedon floor 12, to which the cartons with the empty cans therein aredelivered, and removes the cans 14 from the cartons 16. The operatorsends the cans 14 down an inclined chute 18, and sends the empty cartonsdown an inclined combination belt and roller conveyor 20. As is wellknown by those skilled in the art, a roller conveyor is a piece ofmaterial handling equipment which has an appearance similar to that of astep ladder with the rungs relatively close together and with aplurality of ball bearing mounted wheels on each rung. The articles movewith very little resistance across the tops of these wheels or rollers.The cans 14 proceed down their conveyor 18, around a turn, and into amachine 22, by gravity. Machine 22 fillst the cans with motor oil orother product, caps, seals and labels them, and otherwise completelyprocesses them so they are ready to be repacked into the cartons. Ofcourse, machine 22 may actually represent several machines to performthese functions, but this portion of the packaging plant does not form amaterial part of the present invention. The process cans proceed on asuitable, preferably straight, conveyor 24 into a case packing machine26 which packs three full cans into each carton.

Machine 26 requires that the empty carton be fed into it positively andwith the side flaps already opened and broken so that they will staydown and out of the way. The empty cartons 16 on roller conveyor 20proceed partly by belt and partily by gravity into the carton feeder ofthe invention generally designated by reference numeral 28, and arepositively fed by feeder 28 into case packer 26 on a roller conveyor 30.

The filled cartons exit from case packer 26 on a roller conveyor 32, onwhich they are carried to other case processing such as sealing andprinting, and then to storage or shipment facilities. While theinvention is shown in conjunction with a curved, gravity fed rollerconveyor for both the cans and the cartons, it will be of courseunderstood that the carton feeder 28 of the invention can just as wellbe used with straight and/or level, and gravity and/or power drivenconveying means. For example, such power driven conveying means couldcomprise canvas or Neoprene belting, or the like.

Referring to FIG. 2, one carton 16 is shown in detail and toapproximately correct relative scale as to its three dimensions. Notethat the side flaps 34 are relatively long and narrow. It is the bendingdown and breaking of these side flaps 34 while simultaneously positivelyfeeding the cartons along conveying means 30 into case packer 26 that isthe problem solved by the present invention. Prior conventional means toopen and break the side flaps 34 resulted in cartons jamming, crushedcartons, or both these problems, and the like. These problems occurredbecause the means to break the flaps 34 had to be so close to the cartonthat the friction generated could not be overcome without damaging thecarton or at least cocking it which caused a jam. The end flaps 36 arehandled in the usual manner, such as by a carton feeder having a rollerand an end flap hold down bar, cause no problems, and need not be dealtwith further here.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, conveyor enters one side of the cartonfeeder 28 of the invention, and conveyor exits from the opposite side.Carton feeder 28 is power driven by a single electric motor 38 which ismounted on the legs of the carton roller or other convenient place.Motor 38 drives a set of reducing gears 40, the output gear 42 of whichis fixed to a shaft 44. Shaft 44 is disposed above and transverselyacross the abutting conveyors 20 and 30, and at a predetermined heightthereabove, which height is partly determined by the height of thecartons to be fed, as will appear more clearly below. The speedreduction between motor 28 and shaft 44 provided by gearing isadjustable by changing the motor gears for a reason that will appearbelow. The end of shaft 44 remote from motor 38 on the opposite side ofthe conveyors 20 and 30 is supported in a standard 46 which has itslower end secured to either conveyor 20 or 30, or the junctiontherebetween, in any suitable and convenient manner such as by nuts andbolts, not shown. Suitable anti-friction means, such as an impregnatedsintered bearing or the like, is provided between shaft 44 and standard46, in the usual manner. Shaft 44 carries a pair of eccentric cams 48secured as by set screws through the thinner part of each cam inpredetermined adjusted positions on the shaft 44. The facing surfaces ofthe two earns 48 are each provided with a coating 50 of rubber or otherfriction material,

for a purpose that will appear below.

Means are provided to open the two side flaps 34 of each carton as it isfed through the carton feeder 28. To this end, a tapered plough 52 issupported on a U- shaped overhead bracket 54 having the bottom outerends of its legs secured to the sides of conveyor 30, and supporting theplough 52 at its top cross piece member 54a, in any suitable manner.Plough 52 is a well-known type of device in the material handling art toopen the flaps of moving car-tons. The plough 52 is formed of a pair ofhalf-oval cross-section bars 56 joined at their front end to form apoint, and opening apart, along the direction of travel of cartonsthrough the device, in a generally V-like shape. The bars 56 pass undershaft 44, and the space between the bars at about the area of cams 48 isgreater than the space between the cams, whereby the bars are positionedoutwardly of the cams, respectively. The curved sides of each of thehalf-oval bars 56 face outwardly away from each other so as to smoothlyopen the carton flaps 34.

Means are provided to positively and yet resiliently urge or push thecartons through the feeder 28 of the invention. To this end, shaft 44carries a gear 58. An endless chain 60 is trained about gear 58 at oneloop end, and the opposite loop end of said chain is trained about agear sprocket 62 forming part of a star wheel assembly 64 whichcomprises the resilient pusher means of the invention. Assembly 64comprises a right angle gear box 66, the horizontal shaft of whichcarries sprocket 62, and the vertical shaft 68 of which carries a hub ormounting member 70. Right angle gear box 66 is mounted to one side ofconveyor 20 in any suitable manner such as by a beam 72 which is joinedto the underside of the roller conveyor 20 by any suitable means notshown. Extending outwardly from hub 70 are a plurality of resilient starwheel tips 74, four being shown in the drawing for purposes ofillustration. Star wheel tips 74 are made of heavy gauge rubberizedcanvas, belting, or the like, and are replaceable by simple nut and boltconnections between holes in the inner ends of the tips and registeringopenings in the outer portions of the arms of the metal tip supports onthe hub, not shown.

OPERATION A carton entering feeder 28 first encounters star wheelassembly 64. The cartons are urged past the star wheel assembly by theforce of gravity in the embodiment described, or by positive feedingmeans in conjunction with conveyor 20 in other embodiments. The starwheel tips 74 strike the trailing vertical surface of the carton tothereby urge it under the plough 52 and between the earns 48. However,the star wheel tips striking the carton will not cause the cartons tojam because the tips are sufiiciently flexible that upon encounteringany substantial resistance transmitted through the carton they will flexand bypass that carton thereby avoiding a jam. The horizontal distancebetween the vertical centerline of shaft 68 of the star wheel assemblyand the edge of the roller conveyor 20 is adjusted in accordance withthe length of the tips 74 and the size of the cartons transverse to theconveyor to assure this effect. This adjustment is readily accomplishedby moving the gear box 66 along its supporting member 72 in any wellknown manner, such as by slotted connections.

The distance, measured horizontally, between the cam shaft 44- and thevertical star wheel shaft is larger than the length of a box along theroller conveyor. Thus, the star wheel pushes two boxes at a time, whichis desirable because of the length of the tapered end of the plough, butwhich is not of critical importance.

Upon passing under the shaft 44, the flaps 34 of the cartons areintermittently pushed downwardly as the cams 48 repeatedly strike saidflaps. Because the flaps are subjected to repeated sharp blowsinterspaced with times when the cams are clear of the flaps, instead ofa continuous force as in many prior devices, the earns 48 may besufficiently close to the sides of the carton that they will break thefold between the flaps and the carton walls to impart a semi-permanentset of the flaps to the downward position without damaging the carton.In addition to breaking the flaps, the cams 48, by virtue of coatings 50thereon, also simultaneously drive the cartons through feeder 28.

The relatively high speed of the output shaft of the drive motor 38 isfirst stepped down by reduction gearing 40 to impart a predeterminedspeed of rotation to shaft 44. The speed relationship between shaft 44and the vertical shaft 68 of star wheel assembly 64 is determined by therelative diameters of gear 58 and sprocket 62. Gear box 66 has a 1:1speed ratio between its two shafts. It is desirable to have the starwheel tips rotating faster than the earns 48 to more positively move thecartons under the plough.

All relative speeds of the parts of the invention are adjusted byadjustment of gearing 40 and the diameters of gear 58 and sprocket 62with respect to the anticipated rate of passage of cartons through thefeeder and with respect to the length of each carton in the direction oftravel, to assure that each carton will be struck by the star wheel tips74 a plurality of times, and the flaps of each carton will be struck bythe earns 48 a plurality of times, to assure that the cartons moverapidly and smoothly through the feeder and to assure that each pair offlaps will be struck by the cams several time to break the hingeconnection of each flap to the carton. That is, if the cartons werelonger, the speed of the cams and the star Wheel could be increased.

It will of course be understod by those skilled in this art, thatsuitable side guides, not shown for the sake of clarity, are providedWhere needed to guide the cartons and cams through all the variousapparatuses shown.

While the invention has been described in detail above, it is to beunderstood that this detailed description is by way of example only, andthe protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A method of feeding cartons, boxes, and the like of the type havingflaps to close an open face thereof, comprising the steps of causingsaid cartons to move on conveying means in a predetermined direction oftravel, opening a pair of opposed carton flaps on hinge portionsdisposed generally parallel to said direction of travel, striking thetrailing vertical surface of each carton a plurality of times withresilient pusher means, and striking said pair of opposed carton flapsin the open position a plurality of times, whereby each carton ispositively fed in said predetermined direction and the hinge portionsbetween said pair of opposed carton flaps and the respective cartonwalls are broken.

2. In apparatus for feeding cartons, boxes, and the like of the typehaving flaps to close an open face thereof, the combination comprisingconveying means adapted to support the cartons, resilient pusher meansadapted to urge the cartons in a predetermined direction of travel alongsaid conveyor means, each of said cartons comprising at least one pairof opposed flaps which open along hinge portions of said carton disposedsubstantially parallel to said direction of travel, means to open saidflaps, and means in outwardly spaced relation to the pair of opposedwalls of each carton carrying said hinge means to urge said pair ofopposed flaps into closely spaced relation to said pair of opposed wallsto break the hinge portions between said flaps and said carton walls andto simultaneously feed said cartons in said predetermined direction.

3. The combination of claim 2, said conveying means comprising a rollerconveyor.

4. The combination of claim 2, said resilient pusher means comprising astar wheel assembly comprising a plurality of resilient pusher armsadapted to rotate about an axis, said star wheel assembly beingpositioned with said axis disposed substantially perpendicular to theplane of motion of said open face of said cartons in said predetermineddirection of motion, each of said pusher arms comprising a tip portionformed of resilient material adapted to strike and push a carton until apredetermined force is transmitted through said carton to said tipportions whereupon said tip portions will bypass that carton.

5. The combination of claim 4, said resilient material comprisingrubberized canvas.

6. The combination of claim 2, said flap opening means comprising atapered plough member positioned in spaced relation above said conveyormeans, said plough member being formed of a pair of bars havingoutwardly curved surfaces and formed with a point portion at itsjunction directed opposite to the direction of travel of said cartonsthereunder, whereby said pair of opposed flaps are lifted upwardly bysaid point portion and are urged outwardly away from each other byriding along said curved surfaces of said bars.

7. The combination of claim 2, said last mentioned means comprising apair of cams in predetermined relation above said cartons, said camsbeing eccentrically mounted on a cam shaft disposed substantiallyparallel to the plane of motion of said open face of said cartons andsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of said cartonson said conveying means, whereby upon rotation of said cam shaft saidcams intermittently strike said pair of opposed flaps with the portionsof said cams most remote from the axis of said cam shaft.

8. The combination of claim 7, and a coating on each of the facingsurfaces of said cams adapted to increase the frictional force betweensaid cams and said pair of opposed carton flaps.

9. The combination of claim 8, said coating comprising rubber.

10. The combination of claim 7, said resilient pusher means comprising astar wheel assembly comprising a plurality of resilient pusher armsadapted to rotate about an axis, said star wheel assembly beingpositioned with said axis disposed substantially perpendicular to theplane of motion of said open face of said cartons in said predetermineddirection of motion, each of said pusher arms comprising a tip portionformed of resilient material adapted to strike and push a carton until apredetermined force is transmitted through said carton to said tipportions whereupon said tip portions will bypass that carton, drivemeans adapted to drive said cam shaft and said pusher means at a speedsuch that each carton will be struck by said pusher arms a plurality oftimes and each pair of opposed flaps will be struck by said cams aplurality of times.

11. The combination of claim 10, said drive means comprising an electricmotor, a set of reduction gearing interconnecting said electric motorand said cam shaft, and an endless chain interconnecting a gear on saidcam shaft and a sprocket on the input side of said star wheel assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 53382

